Palm Tree

A 24-year-old Orlando man has died after the vehicle in which he was a passenger veered off a road and struck a tree. Daniel Llanos was the second passenger in a 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer that crashed about 2:36 a.m. on U.S. Highway 192 near Black Lake Road in Osceola County. Jovany Neftali Rosa, 25, of Orlando, was behind the wheel of the vehicle as it traveled west on U.S. 192 in the right lane before veering right and entering the north shoulder of the road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The mail coming to Ripley Entertainment these days is just as weird as the company's believe-it-or-not exhibits. A raccoon skull, an unusual set of antlers, a pink hula hoop, a roll of dental floss, a bowl of cereal and a 5-foot-tall inflatable palm tree have recently arrived at Ripley's headquarters in south Orlando - all without benefit of packaging. Through Sept. 5, Ripley's is running its second annual competition that asks the public to mail in unusual items in an unusual way: without envelopes, wrapping, boxes or bags.

A 36-year-old man was killed early Saturday after his vehicle left the roadway and struck a palm tree on State Road 46 in Seminole County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Douglas Hanna, 36, of Malabar was headed east on State Road 46 when he veered off the roadway and onto the shoulder for an unknown reason at about 12:46 a.m. and struck several trees near Mullet Lake Park Road, said FHP's Sgt. Kim Montes. Hanna's Dodge pickup overturned on its right side. Hanna was pronounced dead at the scene.

A New Smyrna Beach man was killed Saturday afternoon after his Chevy Avalanche truck swerved off U.S. Highway 1 in Edgewater and hit obstacles that included the community sign for the Terra Mar Village development. Marcus Alan Humphrey, 56, was taken to Bert Fish Medical Center and pronounced dead following the accident at 12:50 pm, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Humphrey had been headed southbound on the highway when his vehicle headed onto the median and then near the northbound lanes.

COCOA - A 49-year-old Cocoa man was killed Sunday when he lost control of his all-terrain vehicle and ran into a palm tree on Eureka Avenue near Satellite Boulevard. John D. Bury of 316 Cherry Laurel Ave. died about 4:15 p.m. after crashing his 2002 Honda ATV as he tried to grab a hat that had blown off his head, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper R.D. Carpenter said. Carpenter said a blood-alcohol test is being done to determine whether Bury, who was not wearing any safety equipment, had been drinking.

Plant a specimen palm just to admire, or cluster several palms together to create a view barrier or provide some shade. Palms can be added to the landscape year-round, but the best time to transplant is during the warm months when growth can begin immediately.Establishment also will be aided by frequent rains if plantings are delayed until summer. During other times of the year, plan to keep the soil moist and mulched to encourage new root and foliage growth.Palms traditionally have been dug with skimpy root balls, but recent research suggests a bigger root system, at least for some species, would be advantageous.

On a foggy morning in late November, Sean Jacobus is cruising east on State Road 60 on the outskirts of Lake Wales in south Polk County, searching for a palm tree.He's looking for one specific tree. About six weeks earlier - while passing through on the way to Lakeland from Miami - Jacobus had spotted it. It had looked promising.He says the tree he is looking for is a ''mule butia,'' a hybrid cross between a freeze-hardy jelly palm (Butia capitata) and the more beautiful but delicate queen palm (Cocos plumosa)

ORLANDO A Lake Mary man was killed in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday in Orlando, police said. Robert Lee Scott Jr., 35, of Pickfair Terrace was westbound from Conroy Road onto the Interstate 4 eastbound on-ramp when he lost control and struck a palm tree about 2:10 a.m. Witnesses tried to revive him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Scott was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 22-year-old man died after his car hit a tree early Thursday.Gary John Parker, DeLand, was driving about 65 mph north on Patterson Avenue off Old Daytona Road when his car ran into a palm tree at the intersection of Hamilton Road at about 4:45 a.m., a DeLand police report said.Parker died at the scene. An investigation is continuing.

A 9-year-old Orlando girl was hurt Saturday when an ambulance on an emergency call veered to avoid her and struck a palm tree, which fell on her. The girl, Bria N. Broughton, was in stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center with a broken leg, a bruised lung and a concussion. The Rural Metro ambulance was traveling east on Raleigh Street near the intersection with Frazier Avenue in response to call about chest pain, a spokesman for the ambulance company said. A Lynx bus in front of the ambulance obstructed its view of Bria, who was crossing the street with a 10-year-old and a 15-year-old.

Question : New growths on two of my palms are not opening properly. The leaves tend to stick together. What is the problem? Answer : Palms are often forgotten plants until something goes wrong. What you describe are typical boron-deficiency symptoms. A central cluster of leaves emerges from the bud but sticks together and when they open are often crinkled or contorted. Boron deficiencies in palms have become common in recent years. Some feel the nutrient is being washed out of sandy soils during the rainy season or by overwatering.

A motorist who crashed into tree early Monday in Orange County was shot prior to the crash, authorities said. The crash occurred near the intersection of South Orange Blossom Trail and Landstreet Road about 5:30 a.m., said Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol. A witness saw the tan four-door Lexus driving erratically through the intersection and ram into a palm tree near a 7-Eleven. Emergency responders had to cut the car's roof off to free the victim, but it was not until an emergency room doctor began treating him that his gunshot wound was discovered, said Jane Watrel, an Orange County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

A routine check of my wildlife camera, which is located in our Seminole County backyard not too far from Wekiva River Basin, reveals some interesting bear behavior. The carefully hidden remote weather-proof Bushnell HD Trail video camera has a motion-activated sensor that can capture video or still images during the day or night. The stealth camera illuminates the scene with light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are completely invisible to animals and humans. This is the time of year that the dates on our palm tree begin to ripen and several neighborhood bears stop by to check the readiness of the fruit.

For five hours on Friday, asphalt was transformed into whimsy. Eight parking spaces on a busy downtown Orlando street were blocked off and became, well, something else. The "One Less Car, One More Park" event was meant to promote alternative modes of transportation. Biking, taking the bus or carpooling to work means fewer cars on the road, which means fewer parking spaces are needed. Stitch together enough unused parking spaces, and you've got yourself a park. With backing from Orlando's transportation planning and parks divisions, a few design firms each decorated a curbside, parking-metered space to show the green-space possibilities.

I'm ticked off at kids today. To the ones wanting to know what is wrong with young people today: We are raising a generation of idiots. They have no common sense whatsoever. What they consider talent and entertainment is a joke. They have no respect for anything or anyone. They want everything and they want it now without having to earn it. They take advantage of family and friends even stealing from them. I can just see this generation running this country in a few years. I'm ticked off at the people on the TV cooking shows . They continually use their bare hands when preparing various recipes especially meat loaf.

MOUNT DORA — The familiar gator chomp, above, is on display in the Lake Cares Food Pantry "Canstruction" sculpture, which remains on display at the Main Street Leasing building at Fifth Avenue and Donnelly Street. The unusual display was put together this month under the supervision of architect David Jass, created from 15,966 food items — one for each person Lake Cares fed last year. The handiwork includes a replica, left, of the city including the lighthouse, a palm tree, a turtle, flag pole, sky and clouds.

Lynn Gustafson bent tradition Tuesday when she had a 15-foot-tall Phoenix Roebellini delivered to the House floor.Most legislators, on the first day of their annual 60-day session, get flowers -- roses, mixed bouquets or a single red carnation. But Rep. Tom Gustafson's wife sent him a palm tree.The birth of a daughter Saturday, he explained, prevented his wife from being here for the start of his ninth session and she wanted to send him something he would remember.The palm tree -- delivered from the family's nursery in Fort Lauderdale and wheeled into the House chamber Monday afternoon -- was such a hit that House Sergeant-at-Arms Wayne Westmark said, ''It looks great there.

Tradition.Lady Lake was the first town in Florida to make a palm the community Christmas tree, and resident Ruby Fielding set out to continue that choice.Fielding, a member of the Lady Lake Garden Club and the town beautification committee, said the original town Christmas tree was a Canary Island palm that soared 30 feet into the air and was decorated with more than 1,000 lights.It was planted in 1957 near the Log Cabin, which was the Town Hall back then, she said. In December of that year, the Florida Municipal Record, a magazine published for city administrators, published a picture of the tree on the cover and devoted an article to it.The palm was decorated right after Thanksgiving that year so it could be seen early in the Christmas season by folks traveling along U.S. Highway 441.According to the article, it was part of a program called Palms for Christmas, which had started three years earlier when a large Canary Island palm was given by a local resident to the town for use as a Christmas tree.

Nothing says easy, breezy Southern California like a palm tree — but in Fillmore, the Southern California icon has been unfronded. Eager for an infusion of Hollywood cash, the Ventura County agricultural town has taken down 26 queen palms, a tree that has lined downtown streets since 1940. Officials wanted to give film and TV producers a generic, small-town setting that could stand in for Iowa, Indiana or anywhere else in palm-free America. So one July night, a landscaper revved up his chain saws in the heart of the city's quaint downtown and, soon after, the Fillmore Film Commission — its slogan is "Film More in Fillmore" — announced the move in an email blast to location scouts.

MOUNT DORA — Peanut-butter jars stacked high as part of the "Canstruction" sponsored by Lake Cares Food Pantry would make an untold number of PB&Js. Architect David Jass, above, supervised the building of the replica of the Mount Dora lighthouse, a palm tree, turtle, flag pole, sky and clouds. Among the Lake Cares volunteers who worked on the project, below left, are Frank Kipp, left, John Rougeux and Ann Southwork. The sculpture made up of 15,966 jars is meant to increase awareness about the need for food and monetary donations to help people in need.